The European Space Agency has released a new James Webb Space Telescope image of a structure nicknamed the Treasure Chest in the Carina Nebula, located roughly 7,500 light-years from Earth. The nebula spans about 260 light-years and is the nearest high-mass star-forming region where astronomers can study the full range of stellar birth.
The Treasure Chest is a cometary globule, an isolated cloud of gas and dust with a dense head and a sweeping tail that resembles an open wooden chest. Webb's Near-Infrared Camera reveals a compact cluster of young stars glowing from within the globule's dusty interior.
Researchers estimate the cluster contains about 70 stars, the most massive being a rare O-type star approximately 19 times the mass of the Sun. The cluster is likely around 1.3 million years old, though earlier estimates suggested it could be as young as 100,000 years.
Because of its youth, the cluster remains deeply embedded in the Treasure Chest's dusty clouds, and many individual stars show evidence of circumstellar discs. Over time, radiation from these stars will dissipate the surrounding material and fully reveal the cluster.
The globule's distinctive sculpted shape is driven by external forces: the luminous star system Eta Carinae lies just 39 light-years to the northwest, and the nearby Trumpler 16 cluster contains several extremely hot, massive stars. Their intense radiation and winds shape the surrounding gas and dust.
The image comes from an observing programme led by principal investigator Reiter (programme 5408) dedicated to studying how young stars in the Carina Nebula accrete gas from their surroundings and expel it through outflows.
Webb opens a Treasure Chest filled with stars
This is an independent summary. The complete reporting, supporting context and any primary documents remain with European Space Agency.